


Fear & Delight

by HeyPassTheAngst



Category: Don't Starve (Video Game)
Genre: AU, F/M, I guess it is technically a songfic, Oneshot, Triumphant Willow, shadow Willow, songfic?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-28
Updated: 2019-12-28
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:27:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21999712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeyPassTheAngst/pseuds/HeyPassTheAngst
Summary: In which Wilson confronts Willow, who is not quite herself anymore.
Relationships: Willow/Wilson (Don't Starve)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 41





	Fear & Delight

Wilson knew it was a terrible idea.

At present, the only thing he was keyed-into was the shuffling of his own feet along the trail; the monotonous crunching of sandy soil, unbroken save for the chirp here and there of a cricket. A sure sign that darkness would soon fall upon him. 

He would break camp here. It didn’t need to be the perfect spot, just far enough away from basecamp that prying eyes wouldn’t throw a well-meaning wrench into his plans.

After all, thought Wilson, he didn’t suspect he would make it through the night, anyway.

It’s early evening, and the sun is sinking rapidly. He ponders his current position while he dutifully stokes his fire to an uncomfortable height. Nobody is convinced what he’s doing is a good idea, least of all himself. But that couldn’t be helped. There were too many gaps in his memory; too many sleepless nights without knowing for absolute certain what had happened.

He had figured out his side of things for the most part. He did distinctly remember Wigfrid pulling his frail and broken body out of a wet ditch, though for the life of him he hadn’t remembered how he had managed to get there in the first place. He could recall the onslaught of rain droplets hitting his clammy skin as she flipped him over and called his name. 

Slowly he regained his strength, and with it came the strength of his recollection. Maxwell… an experiment… a door… freedom at last? And then horrible blackness. It seemed his most vivid memories were the least pleasant. 

Shackles held him on the throne, his consciousness ever warping, his troubles on this mortal coil seemed less menacing, more inconsequential, until finally he began to forget who he was. He savored his reign then in a way that turned his stomach to think about now. That’s when he saw-

“Willow?”

Wilson, sitting cross-legged on his bedroll, called out into the abyss in hopes the abyss would call back. 

No response. 

Not too much longer would he be able to tolerate the oppressive darkness of The Constant’s long night without getting something out of it. He waits for a moment before he puts on a nightmare amulet to induce a vision of her. That or his demise. Very well possibly both.

The effects seemed immediate.

“You don’t need to have that on for me to find you.” A shadow was calling to him from the wall of darkness that entrapped him. The voice fluttered with a certain patronizing lilt that bordered on ridicule. “You’re crazy enough as it is, ‘Scientist’.”

Wilson squinted into the blackness through the haze that was beginning to set in, trying to get a glimpse of her. “Well” he said, “here you are anyhow.”

She giggled, not quite in her usual way. “What can I do ya for, nutty professor?”

Wilson offered a little smile. “I’d like to see you, Willow-Wisp.” 

“You think you’re cute…”

His response to that, however witty he was sure it had been, was lost to the wind when he caught his first glimpse of her. 

A coal-black stiletto etched its way into his circle of safety, followed closely by its twin; both chaperoned by a pair of slender, stockinged legs. Wilson’s gaze snapped to a pair of luminous, lamplike eyes which inspired both comforting familiarity and great caution. 

“You’re staring” the shadow said. Her words clung to her lovely pursed lips for a moment before they drifted away like wisps of smoke. Wilson thought he could even feel them caress his skin for a moment; and he enjoyed the shiver that went up his spine as she sauntered into view, at length of course, but on display as much as he could hope for. “Some gentlemen you are.”

“... A thousand pardons.” Wilson replied. “It’s… it’s good to see you, Willow”

The shadow Wilson called ‘Willow’ looked bemused. “Good to see me how, exactly? You seem like you have some kind of death wish.

Wilson was losing his reservations faster than his sanity. “I needed to talk to you.”

“Oh?”

“I know it was you.”

She cocked an eyebrow in his direction. 

“You freed me from the Nightmare Throne… You took my place. I didn’t think I could be so lucky and so miserable…”

She was closer now, and the light from the fire seemed to be waning oh so slightly. Wilson waited briefly for a reply before his mouth started to really run. “You don’t deserve to suffer like this… I want to help you, Willow.”

The shadow’s face scrunched up. “I wish you’d quit calling me that…”

He paled. “Why?”

“I’m not your little buddy anymore, Wilson.”

A beat of contemplative silence. “You were never just my ‘buddy’ to me.” Wilson admitted.

The shadow scoffed. “You know that’s cheating, don't you?”

“Huh?” 

She puffed out her chest sanctimoniously. “That doesn’t count as a confession if your Willow isn’t around to hear it...” 

She wasn’t too far away now. A few feet, perhaps, with a dangerous look in her eyes. “And it’s not going to save you either, Mad Scientist.”

Wilson swallowed as ‘Willow’ inched closer. She wasn’t the only shadow he could see now... “I don’t suppose she’d ever be around to hear it again?”

“Heh, not on your life, scruffy. I like being in charge, despite what you think.” 

She knelt down to his level. When did she get here, now? “And I don’t need any help from _you~_.” ‘Willow’ poked his nose playfully, almost as she had done many times before, only in a more condescending sort of way. She knew how to make a man feel diminutive, that’s for certain.

Wilson was fighting the urge to freeze up with only marginal success. “I-I thought that, too, once.” 

“Hmm?” ‘Willow’ batted her lashes at him. Was she flirting with him, or was this her idea of a joke? Knowing his best friend it could have been either one.

**_Too bad your best friend is gone, and it’s your fault._ **

No! Wilson protested. She’s still in there someplace. He wouldn’t entertain the idea that she would be trapped with Them forever. 

“You ought to take that off, really.” She said, pointing to his amulet. “I mean, I’m here. All it’s doing now is scrambling your brains up.

Wilson obliged, though he still wondered what it might have been like to totally drift away, with her as his last lucid memory. 

He must have had a dopey expression on his face when the thought crossed his mind, because the next thing ‘Willow’ did was place her hands on either side of his collar, leaning in close with a mischievous expression. “Whatcha’ thinkin’ about, Higgsbury?” 

She didn’t give him time to respond before she dug her fingers into his neck, leaving shallow holes in their wake. Spots of bright crimson on pallid flesh. He felt the pressure but the pain didn’t register. Did this high he was on have a name? 

‘Willow’ smirked. “You’re not actually enjoying this, are you?” 

That was it. If he wasn’t spellbound before he’d never escape her clutches now. “I’m enjoying you.” 

And then, with a boldness so uncharacteristic that he caught _himself_ off-guard for a second, he raised his hands to her head and cupped each side of her face. “I’ve missed you…”

Her expression was blank, completely unfeeling, and cold. 

And then she was gone.

“W-what the?” He sputtered, grasping at nothing. 

“You’re boring me.”

Wilson turned around and saw her again, arms crossed like a pouty child. “Don’t you know how to act like a normal person who’s being threatened? I didn’t come out here to make goo-goo eyes at you.” 

The Scientist’s mouth formed a tight line. He rose, steadying his wobbly legs the best he could. “I love you, Willow.”

“I _said_ ,'' the shadow was noticeably more agitated, “ _don’t call me that_. I’m not your friend, stupid.” 

“I’m going to change that.” Wilson proclaimed. “I’m going to get you back. I owe you one, after all. Even if you don’t remember…”

The shadow was quiet for a moment, still scowling. 

“Well,” she said plainly, “You know where the door is.”

She walked over to him and looked him square in the eyes. The same beautiful, fiery eyes he had yearned to see again for so long.

“Good luck, I won’t make it easy.”

Then it was over.... But as he slipped away, he remembered the look in the shadow’s eyes.

In his Willow’s eyes.

**Author's Note:**

> Check out the song that inspired this oneshot, it's a bop
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABS-mlep5rY


End file.
